Living with it
by Wild Force Ranger
Summary: Kaia needs support from Chris during a bad patch. Can the sisters accept her? Chronicles: Powers.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So we're back to Champions. Um...I don't actually have much to say...this is a two-chapter effort.

Living with it

"Hello?" Kaia pushed open the door and stuck her head in. "Anyone home?"

"Hi, Kaia!" Piper called back. "Come on in!"

Kaia followed her voice to the kitchen and hoisted herself up onto the table. "Hi, Piper."

"Hey. Anything wrong?"

"Nope." Kaia was bouncing in place.

"Okaaaaaaay. Anything right?"

"Yep!" She bounced off the table again and crossed to pick up baby Chris. "My cousin's pregnant!"

"That's so great!" Piper said happily. "Boy or girl?"

"They don't know yet. Alyssa's going for a scan later today. They have a little girl already, though, so I think Cole would like a son."

"They are kind of cute." Piper agreed, smiling at Wyatt.

Kaia bounced Chris. "But then girls are good too. I dunno, I guess it doesn't matter." Catching Piper's look, she laughed and ducked her head. "Sorry, Piper. I'm high, I know. It's just everyone I know either knows already or is Daniel, and he's away, and I'm really excited about this, you know?"

"I can see that." Piper agreed.

"Sorry." Kaia lowered Chris back into the playpen. "There you go. Good boy. Hi, Wyatt! How are you today?" Wyatt held up his toy. "Really? That's lovely. Thank you."

"This isn't the first baby, is it?" Piper asked. "Wasn't there one the first time you were here?"

"Yeah. Same cousins and everything. But I just…I don't know. I really like babies, and I can't have any, so…"

"Oh." Piper straightened up. "Sorry."

"Not an issue. No thank you, Wyatt, you keep it. I don't want it, honestly."

Wyatt stopped offering her the toy and sat down. Piper raised an eyebrow but didn't comment, and a moment later Chris appeared in the doorway.

"Hi." He looked mildly surprised to see Kaia there, though she'd been in and out at random intervals for a while now.

"Chris!" Kaia bounced to her feet, catching his hand and drawing him further into the room. "Alyssa's pregnant! Five months!"

"Good." He obviously knew who Alyssa was, Piper noted, since he didn't ask for clarification. "Sara's still young, though, isn't she?"

And he knew the name of Alyssa's daughter, apparently. When had he gotten so familiar with Kaia's family?

"She's a little older than Wyatt." Kaia was saying. "They're going for the first scan today."

"Boy or girl?"

"They're not fussy." Piper grinned as Kaia launched into her 'boys vs girls' argument again.

"Chris, can you two take the kids into the conservatory for me? I need to finish up in here."

"Sure." Chris scooped up Wyatt and Kaia picked up baby Chris. "Come tell me all about it, Kaia."

"I think I have. But I'll tell you again! Angel threw me out of Wolfram and Hart 'cos no one could get anything done, I was talking too much, and even Lorne was getting tired of hearing me talk about it, even though he's usually so patient. And then I went…" Her voice faded slightly as they went into the conservatory, and Piper smiled and went back to her work.

* * *

"And I think Cole wants a boy, but…"

"Kaia?"

Kaia stopped her fourth…possibly sixth…recitation and turned to see Leo behind her. "Yeah, Leo?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure…is this a 'rescue Chris before he goes insane' thing?"

Chris startled, looking from her to Leo and back. "I hope not."

"Sorry, Chris." She smiled warmly. "I'm boring, I know."

"It's fine."

She rose and turned to Leo. "OK?"

"Yeah." He left the conservatory, heading for the sitting room, and she followed him obediently.

"What's up?" she asked, settling on the arm of the couch.

"Should I be worried about my son?" Leo asked bluntly.

"Do you mean, your youngest son?" At his nod, she shook her head and continued, "He's not mine, Leo. Not the way Chris and Connor are. You don't need to worry…not that you would have to anyway."

"How is that? If Chris is yours why isn't…"

"Yeah, I'm not sure. I think…" She hesitated. "I don't _know_ this, Leo. I'm only guessing." she warned him.

"All right." Leo said slowly.

"I think Chris became a Champion of mine in response to whatever Wyatt was doing…will be doing. In the future. Except he won't be, now."

Leo puzzled his way through that. "Then why is Chris still a Champion?"

"I don't arrange these things, Leo. Why the sisters and not anyone else? All I know is he is. And your baby isn't." She shrugged.

"And you'd tell me?" Leo pressed.

"I don't remember the last time I lied…yes, Leo. You above everyone have the right to know. If your son…any of them…ever does come to me, you will know. All right? My word."

Leo nodded, and Kaia pushed to her feet. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. Kaia…thanks." She raised an eyebrow questioningly, and he added, softly. "For Chris. He's getting…he's opening up. We all see it."

"I do my best." She grinned and headed back into the conservatory.

Leo followed her, leaning against the door. Kaia flopped down on the floor beside Chris's chair and announced, "It's your turn to talk, Chris. My voice hurts."

"Your voice hurts?" Chris repeated, not quite mocking.

"Well, yeah! I've been talking for hours. Come on, it's your town. You must have something you can talk about."

"I don't." Chris said flatly.

"Afraid of changing the future?" Kaia sighed. "All right, then. Tell the kids a story." She reached out and caught baby Chris, scooping him onto her lap and leaning back comfortably against the chair. "Tell us a story, Chris."

"Story?" Wyatt asked hopefully.

Chris sighed, but Leo had the sense it was mostly for show. "Fine. A story? Hmm. Aladdin?"

"Do we like Aladdin, _buachailin?" _Kaia asked the child in her lap. Apparently receiving an answer, she looked up and told Chris, "We like Aladdin. Let's go."

"Buachailin?" Chris repeated.

"Oh…little boy, or baby boy. It's getting confusing calling him Chris. You're Chris." Catching his eye, she repeated softly, "You're Chris." Smiling, she added, "Now tell the story already."

Leo turned away, faintly disturbed in a way he couldn't explain.

* * *

"Kaia?" Piper leaned in through the door some time later. "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

"If it's not any bother…" Kaia said hesitantly.

"Of course not."

"Can I help, then?" She bounded to her feet, easily lifting baby Chris and lowering him into the playpen.

"If you want."

Kaia glanced back at Chris. "You don't mind, Chris?"

"No. Maybe I can stop telling stories now."

Wyatt looked up. "Story?"

"Sorry, Chris, looks like you're still on duty." Piper said with a grin.

Chris sighed, but he settled back with the kids without complaint and Kaia grinned and followed Piper into the kitchen.

For a while they just worked quietly; Kaia refused any and all requests to actually cook, but she did the prep and clean up without complaint. She was picking up the plates to lay the table when Piper said suddenly, "Kaia, can I ask you something?"

"You and Leo didn't plan it, did you?" Kaia asked suspiciously. Off Piper's look, she added, "Sorry, Piper. Never mind. What would you like to know?"

"When did Chris meet your family?"

Kaia was quiet for a moment. "Um…a few months, I guess. The day I came here to thank you for your help, we started. It was a while before he met everyone, though."

"Why?" Piper asked.

"Can I be really, really honest, Piper?" Kaia asked. "Because I don't want to…to mess things up, or anything."

"Go on." Piper said, leaning against the counter.

"Chris is…I think he's very lonely. And I like him an awful lot, and I want him to have something that isn't…" she gestured. "That isn't this, isn't magic and demons and life or death and the brother who tried to kill him."

Piper winced, and Kaia flinched. "You see? Sorry. I didn't mean…"

"Are you in love with him?" Piper asked. Her voice had gone hard and cold.

Kaia shook her head rapidly. "Not the way you mean, no. I love him, but then I love you guys as well. Piper, I promise."

Piper lowered her head, studying the floor below them, and Kaia took a step towards her, voice low and urgent. "I can't not see him, Piper. If I could, I would, for your peace of mind if nothing else. But I don't…I need this."

"Why?" Piper asked, still not looking up.

Kaia stopped short. "You don't…" Sighing, she started over. "I love my family, Piper. I really do. But they're so…when I'm with them I'm in the middle of everything. And in LA whenever Angel and the others see me they think there's a crises, and Connor's only ever happy when there _is _a crises, and Daniel in Colorado Springs…I don't get to just sort of _be _very often."

"Be…" Piper prompted her, looking up finally.

Kaia smiled faintly. "Sitting in there, with Chris and the kids…I almost felt normal. And I'm not strong enough to walk away from that, Piper. I'm sorry." She took a step back. "I won't stay for dinner, thank you. I'll come see you another day, and maybe we can talk about this."

"Kaia…" Piper started.

Kaia took another step back. "Not today, thank you." Half turning, she called over her shoulder, "Chris, I have to go!"

Chris appeared in the doorway. "Why? I thought you were staying for dinner."

"I know. Something came up." She smiled briefly at him. "Don't worry about it. Take me home?"

"Sure." he said slowly, studying her. To Piper, he added, "I'll be back soon."

"Dinner's at half past." Piper said quietly.

* * *

"So what happened?" Chris asked.

"It's not important, Chris." She pulled away from him, crossing to stare out the window.

"It is if it made you orb voluntarily. What did Piper say to you?"

"Nothing. She's worried about you." Looking back at him, she added, "it's nothing, honestly."

"What's she worried about?" Chris asked warily.

"She thinks I'm trying to corrupt you, or something. She was very surprised that you knew my family."

"You didn't tell her, did you?" Chris demanded.

"Tell her what?" Kaia asked innocently.

"Kaia…"

"I keep telling you to call me Tara, Chris."

"And I keep telling you I like Kaia better. Did you tell her or not?"

"Not, sweetheart. Your secret's still safe, unless Leo tells her."

"He won't." Chris said absently. "What did he want, anyway?"

"To know if _Buachailin _was gonna be mine too."

"_Bua_…and is he?"

"Nope. Just you. Don't ask me why, it's very complicated timeline stuff that I don't really get."

"Really." Chris folded his arms and stared at her.

"Uh-huh. Things like that don't fit in my head. Too complicated for me. I can barely turn on a computer." She glanced up. "Chris, go home. You're going to miss dinner."

Chris nodded slowly. "All right. See you 'round."

"Yup."


	2. Chapter 2

Living with it

Piper wasn't too terribly surprised to find Kaia on the wall again a week later, waiting patiently for her. She wasn't sure how long she'd been waiting, and for a minute she was tempted to leave her out there; but finally she gave up and went outside.

"Hi." she said, a little warily.

"Hi, Piper." Kaia responded. "Can we talk?"

"Sure." She gestured the other girl inside and closed the door after her.

"I don't want to make trouble." Kaia said hesitantly.

"Good, cos I don't want to have trouble." Piper answered.

"That doesn't make it any easier, your mothering complex." Kaia told her.

"It's not supposed to." Piper said sweetly.

"I'm trying to help your son, Piper. That's all I want to do."

"Why?" Piper asked.

"Because Wyatt has all the help he needs." Kaia answered, deliberately misunderstanding the question.

"Not what I meant."

Kaia sighed, looking away. "Because I think he deserves it. I got bits and pieces about his future—things he said, or you said, or I put together—and I think that he was incredibly strong and brave coming back here, and through absolutely no fault of yours he got some pretty rotten treatment. I feel bad, and I want to make it up to him."

"Still not what I meant. Why Chris above anyone else?" Piper looked away. "I know in the beginning we didn't treat him very well. But we're trying to make up for that now. Why him?"

"Chris is very special. Equally as special as Wyatt, in a slightly different way. It truly is as simple as that, Piper. I think he got some bad treatment, here and there, and I want him to have something good. He thinks he has to go back to the future, you know."

"Is that even possible?" Piper asked, side-tracked.

"I'm really the wrong person to ask. Time travel, not something I can think about."

"Does he have to?" Piper asked softly.

"It's sort of up to him. I can anchor him in this time, if he wants. He may prefer to go back." She moved, sitting on the extreme edge of the seat. "I'm not trying to steal him away from you, Piper. Really I'm not. I'm just trying to help him be happy. What he's carrying…it's too much for one person."

Piper eyed her. "You really think he needs it?"

"I think he needs away from this house every so often. You think it's easy on him, watching your baby grow up with the life Chris should have had but didn't? Don't have to be an empath to know what he's feeling when he looks at the baby."

"Anger and guilt." Piper said quietly.

"Right. He hates little Chris for having his life, and then he feels guilty for it. Not little Chris's fault, after all, is it? So he's getting all tangled up inside." She slid off the seat to kneel beside Piper. "He loves you. And he loves the kids. Just…let him have something outside this house. I'm not going to steal him away. I wouldn't let him leave you anyway." She hesitated. "I mean, not on my account."

"Do I actually have a choice here?" Piper asked, suddenly tired.

Neither noticed Chris come to the door; seeing them, he moved back around the corner, out of sight.

"Yeah. You can accept this, or not, but if you don't you'll be fairly unhappy. I'm not giving him up."

Piper studied her for a moment. "Are you in love with my son?"

Kaia rose to her feet, moving away. "Not the way you mean. He's very special to me. Very precious."

"Precious?" Piper repeated.

"I told you. Chris is special. I've put him under my protection and he's staying there. For now, anyway."

"Your protection?" Piper repeated with a laugh. "I think we can manage. We vanquished the Source, didn't we? We defeated the Titans."

"You defeated the Titans with power borrowed from me!" Kaia said sharply.

"No, we defeated the Titans with the power of the Greek Gods."

"Who had it from me." Kaia insisted. "All earth power comes back to me, in the end."

"Well, if Chris is under your protection, where were you when he nearly died from that Darklighter arrow, or got turned into a spider demon, or vanished from existence?"

"Around. If something serious had happened I'd have known."

"Serious?" Piper laughed. "Something more serious than that?"

"You're not hearing me. It's not his body I'm protecting. That's just part of it. I'm protecting his soul."

"His _soul_?" Piper was well on her way to hysteria.

Kaia rolled her eyes. "He's special! I've taken responsibility for him, and I'm keeping it. Chris is a charge I'm not giving up."

"Who have you taken responsibility from?"

"That's not what I meant. I chose this. I think he's worth it."

"Worth putting up with me?"

Kaia laughed, coming back to her seat finally. "Even worth that." She settled herself and looked at Piper. "Are we ok?"

Piper hesitated. "He's really that special? I mean, I know he is, he's my son and I love him, but…"

"More than Wyatt, maybe, in his own way. Don't forget about Chris just because he's not first-born, Piper."

"I haven't!" Piper protested. "It's just…everyone was so…when Wyatt was born everything got turned upside down."

"And so it was when Chris was born, only a different way. Piper…if you want I'll stop coming here. Don't ask me to stop seeing Chris, because I can't. But I can stop rubbing your nose in it."

Piper sighed. "No. I can handle it." She looked straight at Kaia. "Is he in danger now? Is that why you're here?"

"This minute? He's standing in the hall, I think he's safe enough. I came to sort things out with you."

Faintly, from the hall, came the sound of someone's head hitting the wall.

"Chris?" Piper called sharply. "Have you been listening to us?"

"No?"

"Come in here." Kaia said, smiling. Chris stepped into the doorway and stopped, eyeing them cautiously.

"How long have you been there?" Piper asked.

"Since…" he gestured to Kaia. "Protection?"

"Protection." she agreed. "Wyatt has a cool glowy force field, after all."

Chris laughed softly. "I had one of those when I was small. I can't do it anymore, though."

"Don't need to now." Kaia said cheerfully. "Did it go away around when you met True Adele?"

"I guess so." Chris answered.

"Who's True Adele?" Piper asked, frowning.

"In Chris's future I kept an eye on him, but I used a different glamour to do it and I called myself True Adele. So that Wyatt wouldn't know who I was." To Chris, she added, "Sorry. That should be your past, right? Our future?"

"Don't worry about it." Chris advised her.

"If you insist." She glanced past him, out the window. "I kind of have to go…Piper, are we…"

"Fine." Piper agreed.

"Good. I was starting to think there was something about me that made mothers hate me. Chris, don't eavesdrop on me any more and I'll see you soon, ok? Bye." And with that she was out the door.

The door bounced open again behind her, not quite catching, and Chris Tked it shut before glancing at Piper. "You don't trust her?"

"I like her a lot, but she's just…I don't understand her."

"Yeah. I don't think anyone does, really. She's trying her best, though. You do know that."

"I know, I know." Piper waved it away. "Now, about this eavesdropping habit…"

* * *

Two weeks later, Phoebe tapped on the door of Chris's old room—or Piper's office, depending on how you looked at it. He hadn't been answering calls from them all afternoon. "Chris?"

She wasn't really expecting him to be here; he'd moved into the Manor even before his younger self was born, and as far as she knew he hadn't been anywhere near here since. But they couldn't find him anywhere else, scrying hadn't worked, and she'd offered to check to ease Piper's mind.

Chris glanced up as she came in, holding a finger to his lips in warning. Phoebe halted, blinking as she took in the sight in front of her.

Chris was half sitting, half lying somewhat uncomfortably on the couch. Kaia was sleeping—or at least dozing—curled against him, and his other arm was wrapped around her shoulders to keep her from falling off.

Phoebe took another step in, letting the door swing closed behind her. From here, she could see tear streaks on Kaia's checks…and then her perspective shifted and she realised Kaia's ears were pointed and her face was slightly different.

"What happened?" she asked softly, hunkering beside the couch.

"Her friend lost the baby." Chris answered. Phoebe closed her eyes, remembering several nights of excited baby talk before they'd ganged up on her and banned it. "She just needed to…"

He trailed off, and Phoebe nodded. "Yeah. She OK?"

"I think so. She cried some and then she fell asleep."

Phoebe brushed Kaia's hair back lightly. "Her ears have points."

Chris angled his head away, trying to see without moving her. "Her glamour slipped, I guess."

He didn't sound surprised. "You knew?" Phoebe asked warily.

"I know it happens. Sometimes."

"It's not exactly secure here, Chris."

"I know." he agreed immediately. "Orbing makes her sick, though, it'd wake her up."

On cue Kaia shifted, waking up, and Chris carefully let go of her shoulders, watching her closely. She blinked, staring straight upwards with no particular comprehension.

"Thariin." Chris said quietly. That caught her attention, and she shoved herself into a sitting position.

"Why're you…oh…"

She leaned forward, shoving her hands through her hair. In the wake of her fingers the colour dulled, turning black, and when she looked back up her eyes were green and her face was Kaia's. "How long, Chris?"

"Couple hours, maybe." Chris said.

She nodded absently. "Hi, Phoebe."

"Hi." Phoebe replied. "You OK?"

"Better, anyway. Thank you, Chris. I needed that." She rose to her feet and crossed to the door.

"Kaia?" Phoebe called, and she stopped but didn't look back. "If we can do anything…"

"Ah, damn." she muttered, reaching to wipe her eyes. Louder, she added, "Thank you, Phoebe."

"Tara." Chris said quietly.

She shook her head. "I have to go."

"You want a lift?" He pushed himself off the couch as he spoke.

"No. Max is coming."

Chris came up behind her and she spun suddenly, burying her face against his chest; her shoulders shook, but she made no noise. After a moment she pushed gently away and turned back to the door.

"Thank you." she murmured again, and then she was gone.

"She OK?" Phoebe asked.

"No." Chris turned back to her, shoving a hand frustratedly through his hair. "Once she goes back to them she won't let herself be sad, or cry or anything. She's got this whole…she thinks she has to be strong all the time. Especially for this, since Cole's her brother. I'm glad Connor wasn't home, that would have made it worse." He shook his head abruptly. "Anyway, we can't…"

The door opened and Tara was there, ushering a man about Chris's age. "Sorry." she muttered. "Max kind of broke down in the middle of the floor out there."

Chris stepped out of the way, letting her guide him to the couch.

"Chris?" Phoebe asked softly.

"Tara. Another…it's still Kaia." Chris answered.

"The word you're groping for is 'avatar', I think." Tara said, sitting close beside Max and wrapping her arms around him. "There we go, kiddo."

Max jerked in her grip but didn't pull away. Phoebe watched, concerned. "Is he OK?"

"Yeah. Max is the youngest of us, and he's…"

"Not a kid." he muttered, still not moving away.

"Closest to Alyssa, I was gonna say." she reprimanded him gently. Looking back at Phoebe, she added, "And it's hard. Things hurt, sometimes." Max nodded, still wrapped in her arms. "Max? You're not really up for walking, are you." He shook his head, and she glanced at Chris. "Little help, Chris?"

"Sure." He glanced at Phoebe. "Two minutes."

Phoebe shook her head quickly. "I was just coming to see if anything was wrong, you weren't answering us. There's no…" She glanced at Kaia-Tara-who was watching them even as she talked quietly to Max. "You take your time." she finished.

* * *

Chris was back later that evening, but it was almost two weeks before Kaia came back to the Manor.

"Hi." she called, coming in and bee-lining for Chris's playpen.

"Hey, Kaia." Piper answered. "You OK?"

"No." She shrugged. "Gets better."

"Yeah. How's your cousin?"

"Shattered. Won't let her daughter out of her sight. I have to…I'm going back, in a bit. I just…"

She trailed off, and Piper nodded. "Normal?"

Kaia nodded, resting her head gently on Chris's and staring into space. "Normal."


End file.
